Game apparatus for chance-selected indications



Patented Apr. 22, 1952 GAME APPARATUS FOR CHANGE, SELECTED INDICATIONSCharles Tognetti, Union City, J. Application S pt mber 30, .50. SerialNo fllsiflllv 11 Claims.

This invention relates to game apparatusand particularly to a game inwhich cards having various indications thereon (such as numbers, lettersor other syrnobls) are distributed amongst players and which are useablein conjunction with a system of chance-selection of indications,substantially as in the case of the game commonly known as Bingo, wherethe person holding the card with the chanceeselected indication receivesa credit.

It is primarily within the contemplation of my invention to provide amechanical means of ,obtaining the chance-selection of said indications,and to provide cards with various indications thereon in corollationwith those on the mechanical device. And in this aspect of my inventionit is an important object to so arrange the indications on both themechanical member and the cards as to enable aprompt and quickrecognition of the chance-selected indication;

More specifically, it is an object of my invention, in one form thereof,to provide a manually operable roller device containing thereon acontinuous sheet on the surface of which is contained an arrangement ofrows and columns of numerals and letters, the sheet being operativelyassociated with an indicator or pointer marking arranged for alignmentwith one of the said rows on the sheet-the cards being marked tocorrespond with different sections of the sheet. And in this particularaspect of my invention it is an object to enable the rapid recognitionof a chanceselected row of symbols by employing a novel arrangement ofnumber and'lett'er sequences on both the cards and the sheet.

'It is a further object of my invention t provide a simple and readilyfabricated apparatus to accomplish the above-mentioned objectives, andone that can be readily manipulated, and played with continuousinterest.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings andthe description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings, I

Figure-1 is a perspective view of the mechanical device for thechance-selection of indications, in accordance with the presentinvention.

[Figure '2 is a part side elevation, part section, taken substantiallyalong line 2-2 of Figure 1, a hand being shown in dot-dash lines in theprocess of imparting a motion to the roller mechanism of the device.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section of Figure 1 taken along line 3--3.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the indication-bean mg, olle m un ed ha c: Fiu e 1 ho n in.

itse tend d. c n it nd Fi ures 6 and 7 a e p an iews of hree 9? thecards employed the present invention.

In the particular form of my invention illustrated, a casing I0 isemployed having lateral upright walls I I and 12, said walls havingextendil'lg obliquely downwardly from the upper edges thereof the slotsI3, l4, I5 and I6. Disposedbetween said walls II and I2 are the rollersH and [8, each of the rollers having at their opposite ends theoutwardly extending pins [9 loosely mounted for rotation withintheadjacent slots l3, l4, l5 and it. Mounted over'the rollers is thecontinuous sheet 2!! in the form of a loop enveloping the said rollersand the space therebetween. a

The arrangement is hence such that a motion could readily be imparted tothe sheet and rollers by placing a hand, such as H of Figure 2, on theupper surface of the sheet overlying one of the rollers, and quicklymoving the hand rearwardly in the direction of arrow A, whereupon thesheet and rollers will move until they are frie tionally stopped. Theinclination of the slots l3, M, l5 and I6 is generally in the directionof Y movement, so that the pins l9 will be caused to bear against thelowermost terminals of the slots without any danger of the rollers beingforced out ofthe slots. A pointer marking or indicator 7 22 pointstowards the sheet, and towards the transverse rows of indications whichwill now be described,

' The sheet 29 illustrated contains-thereonaplr rality of transversespaced parallel rows come posed of a sequential arrangement of numberswhich continue from one row to the next until a predetermined highestnumber is reached, whereupon the numbering starts a new cycle. The sheetalso contains a longitudinal arrange.- ment of letters, preferablyalthough not necessarily at a longitudinal edge thereof, and at thelongitudinal ends of certain of said transverse rows, as will moreclearly hereinafter appear.

rows generally designated as 26 and on the longitudinal columndesignated by the reference numeral 21. In the form shown, the rows 28each contain eight symbols, and the column 2! contains a repeated seriesof letters spelling out the word Poker, each series being separated by arow of numerals containing no letters thereon, the numerals on saidseparating rows extending along the entire length thereof. For example,rows 28, 29, 30, 3| and 32 contain only numerals, whereas all the otherrows contain seven numerals and a single letter, the letters in thepreferred form illustrated being disposed adjacent the marginal edge 33of the sheet 20 and at the marginal ends of their respective transverserows. As a further illustration of the manner in which the numerals arearranged, it will be noted that row 28 contains a continuous sequence ofnumerals from 1 to 8, the next adjacent row 34 starting with the nextnumeral, that is 9, and then starting anew cycle beginning with 1. Thiscycle continues on line 34 until the last number 6 thereon, whereafterthe sequence continues on the next line 35 with the numeral 7 until thepredetermined highest number 9 is again reached, whereupon the sequenceagain repeats itself beginning with the numeral 1. In each case Wherethere is a letter at the column 21, the sequence of numbers begins atthe column following the letter; but wherever the letters arediscontinued, such as at rows 28, 29, 30, 3| and 32, the first numbercontinuing the sequence appears in column 21. It will also be observedthat the number of symbols in each row is one less than the number ofnumerals in each series of sequential numbers, so that no single rowcontains all the numbers in a series. hence such that every series ofnumbers must appear on two rows.

The cards, such as cards 23, 24 and 25, contain thereon, as aforesaid,certain preselected adjacent rows of the sheet 28. Card 23 contains therows appearing on the portion of the sheet indicated by the bracket B;card 24 contains the rows appearing on the portion of the sheetindicated by the bracket C; card 25 contains the rows appearing on theportion of the sheet indicated by bracket D. An entire set of cardsshould preferably correspond to all possible sections of the sheet,different cards containing indications corresponding to differentsections.

In playing the game, cards are drawn or distributed in accordance with apro-arranged plan whereby all the players have in their possession oneor more cards. impart a motion to the rollers in the manner aboveindicated, until the rollers and'sheet are frictionally stopped. Theindicator 22 will then point to the whining row; that is, the row thatstops closest to the indicator 22 will constitute a winning row. Aperson holding a card which contains a row corresponding to the winningrow receives a credit of any desired value or form. For example,referring to Figure 1, the indicator 22 designates row 36 as the Winningrow, and the corresponding row 36a, appearson card 23. Accordingly, theperson holding card 23 receives a credit for one completed row. In apreferred manner of playing the game, the person holdin a card on whichall of the lines have been chanceselected by the roller device l0, maybe designated as the Winner, or may receive a credit of a predeterminednumber of points. And when a winning card includes in addition thecomplete combination of the word appearing in column 21, he

A player or caller may then The arrangement is will receive a specialpoint premium. For ex-' ample, if the card 24 were the winning card, theholder thereof would receive a special credit because the complete wordPoker also appears thereon; whereas winners with other cards, such as 23and 25, would receive a lesser credit inasmuch as the complete wordPoker does not appear thereon.

Because of the fact that the arrangement of lines and columns is such asto provide a sequential arrangement of numbers which continues from oneline to the next, and because there is also a plurality of series ofletters in a vertical column arranged to spell a readily recognizableword, the determination of a winner with each movement of the roller canbe effected in a minimum of time. This arrangement has a decidedadvantage over the conventional Bingo game, for example, wherein thereare haphazard arrangements of numerals, requiring a careful scanning ofthe card and a consequent loss of time in determining the winningcombination. With the present invention, however, it has been found thatthe game proceeds with great rapidity, since the special sequentialarrangement of numbers and letters enables, as aforesaid, an immediaterecognition of the chance-selected row, The game can thus continue at afast pace, the rapid fire selections adding both interest andexcitement; and it has been found that the game may be played over along period of time without the fatigue and eyestrain that frequentlyresults from games requiring a careful scrutiny of cards. Furthermore,the employment of a mechanical device for obtaining chance-selections ofrows adds both play-appeal and novelty to the game. Moreover, thecombination of both numeral and letter sequences provides considerablevariety to the play and thereby addsto the interest. It is particularlyto be noted that the continuous sequence of both numerals and lettersmakes my invention adaptable for playing a. game suggesting straightpoker winning combinations which has a fascination for all players ofthe game of poker.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by wayof example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations andmodifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore,that the invention is not limited to any specific form or manner ofpracticing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified. inthe appended claims.

I- claim: I

1. In a game apparatus, a movably mounted sheet having thereon aplurality of spaced rows of symbols, and a row indicator adjacent saidsheet, said rows comprising a plurality of series of numbers continuingfrom row to row, each series being sequentially arranged, said apparatusalso including a plurality of cards each having thereon a plurality ofrows of symbols corresponding in position, value and sequence to aselected group of adjacent rows on said sheet.

2. In a game apparatus, a movably mounted sheethaving thereon aplurality of spaced rows of symbols, and a row indicator adjacent saidsheet, said rows comprising a plurality of series of numbers continuingfrom row to row, each series being sequentially arranged, there beingless symbols in each row than there are numbers in each series, thoseseries of numbers that are incomplete on one row continuing to the nextrow.

3, In a game apparatus, the combination according to claim 2, saidapparatus also including a plurality of cards each having thereon aplurality of rows of symbols corresponding in position, value andsequence to a selected group of adjacent rows on said sheet.

4. In a game apparatus, a movably mounted sheet having thereon aplurality of spaced transverse rows and at least one longitudinal columnof symbols, and a row indicator adjacent said sheet, said rowscomprising a plurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row,each series being sequentially arranged, said column containing aplurality of letters constituting a predetermined word, said lettersbeing sequentially arranged in adjacent rows to form said word, saidapparatus also including a plurality of cards each having thereon aplurality of rows of symbols corresponding in position, value, rotationand sequence to a selected group of adjacent rows 'on said sheet.

5. In a game apparatus, a movably mounted sheet having thereon aplurality of spaced transverse rows and at least one longitudinal columnof symbols, and a row indicator adjacent said sheet, said rowscomprising a. plurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row,each series being sequentially arranged, said column containing aplurality of series of letters, each series forming a predeterminedword, said letters being sequentially arranged in adjacent rows to formsaid word.

6. In a game apparatus, a movably mounted sheet having thereon aplurality of spaced transverse rows and at least one longitudinal columnof symbols, and a row indicator adjacent said sheet, said rowscomprising a plurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row,each series being sequentially arranged, said column containing aplurality of series of letters, each series forming a predeterminedword, said letters being sequentially arranged in adjacent rows to formsaid word, each of said series of letters being separated from the nextseries by at least one transverse row of symbols.

7. In a game apparatus, the combination ac- 9. In a game apparatus, amovably mounted sheet having thereon a plurality of spaced rows ofsymbols, and a row indicator adjacent said sheet, said rows comprising aplurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row, each seriesbeing sequentially arranged, said apparatus also including a pluralityof cards each having thereon a plurality of rows of symbolscorresponding parallel slotted portions extending obliquely down fromthe upper edges of said walls, a pair of rollers rotatably mountedwithin said slotted portions and disposed between said walls, a conitinuous sheet mounted over said rollers, an indicator on one of saidwalls adjacent said sheet,

' said sheet having thereon a plurality of spaced rows of symbols, saidrows comprising a plurality of series of numbers continuing from row 'torow, each series being sequentially arranged.

11. In a game apparatus, a casing having oppositely disposed lateralwalls, two pairs of parallel slotted portions extending obliquely downfrom the upper edges of said walls, a pair of rollers rotatably mountedwithin said slotted verse rows and a longitudinal column of symbols,

and a row indicator adjacent said sheet, said rows comprising aplurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row, each seriesbeing sequentially arranged, said column containing a plurality ofletters constituting a predetermined word, said letters beingsequentially arranged at a marginal edge of said sheet adjacent saidtransverse rows.

portions and disposed between said walls, a continuous sheet mountedover said rollers, an indicator on one of said walls adjacent saidsheet, said sheet having thereon a plurality of spaced .transverse rowsand at least one longitudinal column of symbols, said rows comprising aplurality of series of numbers continuing from row to row, each seriesbeing sequentially arranged, said column containing a plurality ofseries of letters, each series forming a predetermined word, saidletters being sequentially arranged in adjacent rows to form said word,said apparatus also including a plurality of cards each having thereon aplurality of rows of symbols corresponding in position, value, rotationand sequence to a selected group of adjacent rows on said sheet.

CHARLES TOGNETTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 302,723 Grimes July 24, 1884489,499 Ragan Jan. 10, 1893 666,906. Pierpoint Jan. 29, 1901 1,608,098Hall Nov. 23, 1926 2,124,136 Bugg July 19, 1938 2,409,584 Peterman Oct.15, 1946

